Ground Swell Capital LLC Invests $224,000 in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,532 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 353.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,269,258 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $185,692,000 after buying an additional 989,319 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 224.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,207,854 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $176,709,000 after acquiring an additional 835,985 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth $96,698,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,156,791 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,778,553,000 after acquiring an additional 605,796 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 591.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,861 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $101,951,000 after purchasing an additional 596,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of EA stock opened at $153.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $143.36 and a 200 day moving average of $144.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.21 and a 1-year high of $168.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.74.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EA. UBS Group increased their price objective on Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered shares of Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Ascendiant Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $168.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.57, for a total transaction of $388,925.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,252,202.73. The trade was a 5.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.14, for a total transaction of $650,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,216.10. This represents a 11.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,120 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.